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 Rethinking an Everyday Essential

Have you ever thought it would be fun to renovate a home? I did, which is why I bought a fixer-upper in the fall of 2022. At times, it was fun. But it was also far more work than I anticipated. I’d renovated kitchens and bathrooms, painted rooms, upcycled furniture, and decorated homes before—but this was different. It was a full commitment.

In January of 2023, we took the kitchen and bathrooms down to the studs. The air was thick with dust, and I was constantly blowing my nose. When we ran out of tissues, I grabbed a roll of bath tissue from the closet, sat down on the toilet (which, at that moment, lived in the middle of the living room), and took a break.

What struck me wasn’t the inconvenience—it was the contrast. I wouldn’t normally keep a roll of bath tissue outside the bathroom, even though it served the same purpose. Everybody uses it to blow their nose—just not where guests can see it. Most of us don’t leave it on the coffee table.

As I thought about this, I came across a social media post asking people to reflect on the small, everyday things that shaped how they grew up. One woman shared that boxed facial tissue simply wasn’t something her family used.

That stopped me. Because when I thought about it, the same was true in my home, too.

I’m one of five kids, and we were a use-what-you-have family. Boxed tissues weren’t a staple. If you were sick, you brought the roll out. When you felt better, you put it back where it belonged — in the bathroom.

“Did you keep any of the closet rods?”

I looked up to see my boyfriend at the time—an electrician—standing in the middle of the house with a giant spool of electrical wire. He needed to unwind it from one end of the house to the other.

“No,” I said. But it got me thinking. What could he use? The house was nearly empty.

Then I remembered a makeshift coat rack in the basement—a simple dowel attached to a couple of boards nailed into the floor joists. I’d asked the previous owner to leave behind two old work horses, thinking they might come in handy. Sure enough, they did. He slipped the dowel through the spool and propped it up on them. It worked perfectly.

All of this happened within a span of minutes. And suddenly, the idea clicked.

If the issue with having a roll outside the bathroom is visual—and a box can go anywhere—and everyone already uses rolled tissue anyway, what if there were a box that concealed the roll, allowed it to dispense smoothly, and brought the tissue out from the top? Something functional, but discreet. Familiar, but better.

That afternoon, as I sanded walls and patched holes, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Surely someone had done this before. I searched online. I searched Amazon. Everything I found looked like a toilet paper holder.

As soon as I got home, I started experimenting. I worked with standard tissue box covers. I made cardboard prototypes. I used clay and tape. I read Lori Greiner’s Invest It, Sell It, Bank It. I hired a CAD designer. We went through countless iterations. I tested more than twenty different bath tissue brands. I searched for manufacturers and did market testing.

Before long, boxes were everywhere—on my nightstand, vanity, coffee table, and desk. And I realized the idea had more benefits than I originally imagined. When the tissue ran out, I replaced the roll. No cardboard boxes to buy. None to break down and throw away. I used it for everything—fixing makeup, wiping a spill, grabbing a quick napkin. I didn’t just use my own product. I loved it.

Then, one night on my way home after dinner with friends, another idea appeared. I imagined removable fabric covers stretched over the box, like a slipcover on a sofa. Washable. Changeable. Able to match a room, a season, or a mood. I stopped at Joann Fabrics for jersey fabric and made the first one—a tan and black zebra print that’s still one of my favorites.

What began as a practical observation during a renovation became an idea about intention. AchooBox was designed to take something we already use and give it a more thoughtful place in the most lived-in spaces of the home. Simple, durable, and designed to last, it allows rolled tissue to live anywhere—without looking out of place. Because even the most ordinary objects deserve considered design.

Amy O'Brien
Founder, AchooBox
AmyOProducts, LLC